Since 2003, Curriculum Trak has been honored to work with an ever-growing number of schools around the world (see the map of Curriculum Trak schools here). Most of these schools are private, tuition-based schools, often serving small communities, independent of a broader district or even a parent organization. Like schools everywhere, schools using Curriculum Trak operate on a tight budget with an over-extended instructional team, but they are doing truly amazing things. As the Curriculum Trak team, we often feel that we have a front-row seat to observe school leaders, instructional coaches, lead teachers, and “curriculum nerds” taking as many opportunities as possible to think deeply about the variety of topics, practices, and trends associated with teaching and learning. We see them investigate best practices and possible initiatives and experiment with a variety of implementation tactics and techniques. They do this even as they continue to produce excellent student outcomes.
How can we do more to maximize these efforts, support these ideas, and promote education among faith-based schools even further?
These observations often lead us to ask two questions: “How can we do more to maximize these efforts, support these ideas, and promote education among faith-based schools even further?” And, “How can we share the valuable insights and experiences gleaned from the hard work, deep thinking, and strategic planning of so many in our network?” Ultimately, our goal is to help the schools we work with continue to thrive at high levels for the sake of their students. Our solution is to leverage the power of the network. We want to make it easier for educators like you to connect, explore, and discover the great things going on in schools like yours all over the world.
That is where this blog comes in. We hope to use it (along with some other exciting things we have in the works for the near future) to facilitate an even greater sense of community and networking among Curriculum Trak schools. We hope to promote the best practices among educators like you and provide valuable insights from like-minded instructors at schools like yours. Obviously, it is nearly impossible for a single teacher, administrator, or school to adequately explore all of the topics and trends in the ever-changing world of curriculum and instruction, but as a community of educators, administrators, and schools we are more likely to share thoughts and experiences on a broader range of topics, gain more insights into how things have gone when tried elsewhere, and learn about pitfalls to avoid should you choose to try something new. As a result, with a knowledge bank like this, we hope the schools in the Curriculum Trak community will be able to continue doing even more with less.
We are excited about where these efforts may go. While we will begin by collecting ideas and experiences in the form of articles, we have plans to branch out into other forms of interaction very soon. In the meantime, we ask you to consider how you will become an active part of the growing Curriculum Trak Community.
Share your thoughts and experiences and expertise
Have you had the opportunity to explore, research, investigate, or experiment with a unique (or unique to you) curriculum approach or instructional technique? Others would love to hear your thoughts. Have you devoted much of your time honing a specific area of instruction, approach to learning, or leadership skill? Here’s your chance to show that you are the expert! We want to give recognition and attention to how valuable your skill-set is, and we are sure that others would benefit from hearing what you’ve learned. Click here to submit articles to share with the community.
Dig in and Respond
Many members of our community have already begun sharing their experiences. As educators, they are always looking for feedback. They would love to hear your thoughts, how you may have benefited from their words, or even your additional questions. Join the conversation! Our authors hope that for your own benefit as well as the benefit of the community, you will take advantage of opportunities to interact with affirmation or further insight about the topics being discussed in each post.
Influence Others
Whether you have ideas to share or find things here that can help you, be sure to think of others. We would like to grow our community, encourage others, and help promote the outcomes of faith-based education around the world. As long as there is something to learn and someone who needs to learn it, the work of an educator is never done. Please feel free to share what you find here, invite others to come in and check it out, submit a post, or otherwise promote the content and the people who have created it.
Provide Your Thoughts and Feedback
The Curriculum Trak community is what it is today because of people like you. You have been so generous with your feedback and encouragement as we have worked to find ways to support more and more schools. Keep it up! We are always grateful for the thoughts, ideas, opinions, and even constructive criticisms we have received from people who are doing the important work of educating on a regular basis. Let us know where you would like to see a community like this go, what topics we should explore, and how we might become even more helpful to you.
We look forward to where the Curriculum Trak community may go, and the benefits it might bring to the planning and instructional efforts to schools like yours around the world.
